Thursday, August 10, 2006

Hugh Manatee

Well, the frustration wasn't there all night tonight. It waited to set in toward the end of each game...

Chi-Sox go down 7-0, but eff with me by making it 7-6, leaving the tying run on third in the ninth. At one point, they had bases loaded, no outs, and hit three consecutive pop outs. Ozzie, tell your fucking fuckfaces to hit a lazy fly to the outfield. It's not that hard. Had they gotten just one of those runners in, the game would've turned out differently.

Damon left the game with an injury. Here's hoping he's in agony right now. But I have no idea. I didn't even hear what the injury was. I only know he had to leave the game.

In our game, it also looked like a blowout early. Then Beckett suddenly went into "how many hits can I give up in a row?" mode, as he usually does. Then I had to sit through three Red Sox double plays, two with the goddamn bases loaded. As I type, we are holding the one-run lead, with Pap two outs away, but with a runner on third.

Why are these games four freakin' hours long?

Another quick note: Where's the speed on this team? I honestly think David Ortiz is the third fastest runner on the Red Sox.

Shit. We're tied on a sacrifice fly. Make that "more than four hours long."

You know, as the (final) pitch was coming in, I realized, Wait, it's not guaranteed to go more than four hours. I was assuming Pap just gets the third out and we have at least another inning to play. Then the dude gets a hit and game's over.

Now I'm sitting here, listening to the stupid Extra Innings package music, as the feed gets cut off right when the game ends. Just sitting. Typing. Calm, despite a shitty, shitty loss. Calm, yet fuming inside. What is it about these past two nights? A whole other world has dawned. I haven't felt like this in a long time. I feel like it's 1996 or 1993 or something. I remember the Red Sox being so bad, that during one game, they had a lead, and Pat said, "If they blow this game, I'm gonna turn off the TV and not watch the Red Sox for a long time."

I don't even feel like they're dead, just that I'm seriously going to have a heart attack watching, even if they do win. The song plays on. Why don't I change the channel? Why don't I stop typing? Well, I've got to finish up an article I'm writing for all-baseball.com that will be up tomorrow, and it's late, and now I have no desire to do it. Fortunately, it's almost done already. Good night, everybody. While I never give up, I totally don't blame anyone who just goes out tomorrow night and forgets all about the Red Sox. Even if you choose a Golden Girls marathon over the game, good for you. At least you'll have your health, and there'll be no chance of Tavarez walking in on Bea Arthur and company. Rue MacLanahan won't suddenly forget how to pitch from the stretch like Beckett. Betty White will have no chance of getting swept by the Royals. Hey, is it bad when you actually start to think that maybe watching the Golden Girls would be a better thing to do than watch the Red Sox?

Did I mention I hope Johnny Damon is in horrible pain right now?

I think I know why people drink now. I feel like--that's right, this post continues--I'm rolling a dice, trying to get a three. I roll it over and over. No three. I roll it for five hours, then ten. Still no three. I know I have to eat and work and sleep and stuff, but I know the three is coming up. One more roll. But it doesn't come. I know it has to. But it doesn't. And I'm sweating and clenching my fists and my skin is crawling. No three. No three. No three. No three. No three. Thr-- no. If I had a pool I'd dive in it right now, and leave my wallet in pocket, so I could get mad about that and it would take my mind off the Red Sox and I'd be in nice, cool water instead of this sweat-trap that is my body.

Okay, when you break out the phrase "sweat-trap," it's time to just end it.

[Update: My all-baseball.com/ Firebrand guest column is up over there and is also right below this one.]

Jere, chill out. No one is dying or getting killed. It's baseball dude; this is coming from a Yankee fan who is a former Marine and Iraq Vet. Your team is 3 games out; big fucking deal. This time of year in 2004, when you guys won the Serious( no that's not a mispelling), the Sox were out 10 plus games. What do ya know?! The Sox won that year. Stay fair bro, this rivalry is going to come down to the last days of the season. Quit trippin.

Oh yeah, quit rejoicing in Yankee injuries, that's fucking lame. I hope Tek comes back strong; he's a gamer and deserves respect. I understand the hate you guys have for Johnny D, but step off. He loves the game and loves to compete and has been money for the Yanks this year. Give respect where respect is due even though he sold out on you. Wishing that a guy hurts is straight pussy Jere, come on.

I know what you mean, Jere, about it feeling like the old Sox... tonight we got beat, by the Royals, with Papelbon on the mound. I didn't see the game, but when I checked back to see the final score, I was less surprised than depressed.

The Sox finish the season against a lot of hard teams, and it's hard to maintain the relentless positivity 2004-(1st half) 2006 enstilled. Boo.

I really wish you would link to previous post's you had written. For example, back on April 11th the Yankees beat the Royals 9 - 7 with a Jeter homerun in the bottom of the 8th inning. I remember you writing something to the effect, 'If the Yankees (or you probably said Dunbars) had this much trouble with the lowly Royals then we have nothing to worry about'.

Don't you understand that you shouldn't spit into the wind. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

I understand you hate the Yanks and you can have all sorts of negative reaction against both the team and its fan-base. But your comments borderline on insanity and they are far from reality. Including your stupid comment about Steinbrenner stopping all group sales. Do you know that it was the Red Sox who first did that? After 9/11 they had a PR thing that they sold group sale tix to NYPD. There were a few bus tours to Fenway in 2002, then in 2003 it just stopped. They said they were no longer doing sales that they'd rather sell the tix individually. I believe it stopped in Yankee stadium in 2004.

Why do you act like the Red Sox are any different than the Yanks? The Red Sox are following the Yankees model and you try and cover the sun up with one thumb and act as if it doesn't exist. Leave the business side of the equation out of your posts because you obviously have no idea what you are talking about. I'm sure the Fenway park expansions (monster seats, new area above left field, closing of Yawkey way) was all done to make it more affordable and give more fans access to Fenway. How about the Red Sox Nation card carrying members?

BTW, I posted something about 2004 3 - 4 days ago and 'Witch City Sox Girl' and you had responded to my comment about Yankee fans being over 2004. For many Yankee fans, they all knew at the time the Red Sox were a better team and when they beat the Yanks in 2004 it was the better team that won. I think a lot of Yankee fans knew that before the series started and after the series ended. The Red Sox had Schilling and Pedro at the top of their rotation, the Yanks had Mussina and Lieber. It was much harder for me to accept defeat in 2001, 2003 and 2005. I felt the Yanks were better than the teams that defeated them in playoffs. Was the Yanks collapse any worse than the collapse of the Red Sox in 1978, 1986, or 2003? If you want to believe it was then be my guest, but that point can be argued for many years and you'll find a lot of people that won't side with many of you. Was the Yanks collapse a bad one? Yes, it sure was. But were those collapses from the Red Sox worse? Remember there were 12 games separating both teams in 1978. You can't forget about your entire history just because you had one great year where everything went right and you finally overcame adversity. I'd hate to reference my probability and statistics class, but 1 year is hardly a good enough sample size for you to gloat all too loudly. Sorry, it just isn't. The biggest difference between Yankee fans and Sawx fans is that you hold onto 2004, we are looking forward to our 27th World Championship and we hardly reference our last championship. Yankee fans just reference the 26 that the New York Yankees have won throughout their history. We don't need to cite one, we have an entire suite of championships to look back on. I'm 30 years old, so in my lifetime I can at least say my favorite team was on top 6 times. It all balances out in the end since I also root for the Knicks. You at least had the Celtics. Are you even a Celtic fan?

The Sox had to start limiting tickets due to a small park and over-the-top demand. The Yanks stopped it strictly because the Red Sox fans were almost outnumbering Yankee fans in the Bronx.

About the Yanks losing to the Royals. It's all relative. Or something. You can't say "my team beat this team, who beat this one, who beat this other one, who beat yours, so we're the champs." I'm still psyched about the Yanks having to pitch Mo in the EIGHTH in a game they led 7-0. Stuff like that. The Yanks aren't a dominant team, and I'm not afraid of them. And you make it sound like I'm going back and erasing stuff I wrote.

Oh no, the Yanks never reference the last championship...they reference ALL of them! You are full of shit! So you're allowed to brag about 26 OLD championships but we can't brag out one that's more recent than any of yours? Oh no, you never dwell on the past.. you shouted 1918 at us for decades! I wouldn't call that "looking forward to your next championship."

NO, not a Celts fan. Grew up rooting against all the "Yankees" of other sports. Was a Jets fan and the world's only Nets fan growing up in the eighties. But have forsaken all sports but baseball. And the Nets joining forces with the Yanks didn't help.

We've had the Sox/ Yankee fan discussion before Jere, but in reality, there's nearly no difference between the two. It's a total "you do this," and "well you do THAT" fest. What's the point?

As for on the field... I don't know how you can say the Yankees don't "scare" you with a straight face. Besides the Tigers, they're pretty much shoulder to shoulder with CHW as the second best team in the league. I'd put Boston a notch behind MIN right now, depending on Liriano's health.

I'm all for the fun Yankee-bashing because it's (for me) not done in earnest and it's the "fun" side of rooting. But there is no difference between Yankee and Red Sox fans on a large scale. Specifically they have different cultural traits, but they balance each other out.

I can't disagree with anything BS Memorial said. It's fun bashing the Sawx, as it is fun for you all to bash the Yanks. There really isn't any difference between both fan-bases.

Both have extremely stupid fans and extremely intelligent fans. I would put myself in the middle.

In 2004, even after having a 3 - 0 lead, I was still scared to death of the Sawx and I knew it wasn't over. Because the Yanks had a 3 - 0 lead I eventually thought the Yanks would win it all, but never did I think the Yanks would sweep the Sawx. Even after the 3 - 0 lead. The Sawx proved everyone wrong and won it all, good for them. Way to overcome adversity, nothing left to do but cheer them on - no matter how much it hurt.

I guess the thing that bugs me about you, Jere, is that you aren't dumb and you have an IQ probably north of 120 so when you make stupid comments - I think at least - it makes you look stupid and uninformed. Respecting your opponent is one thing, but totally dismissing them as "sucking" and not "scaring you" is only going to make it harder for you if the Yanks win the next two series against the Sawx. Likewise for me and many other Yankee fans, with respect to the Sawx.

I know you aren't the JoyOfSox blog, but I love reading his stuff because it is really well written and serves as a good place to gain perspective. I think all your vitriol hate towards the Yanks is petty and appeals to the simpletons. Based on your non-baseball comments and posts, I hardly think of you as a simpleton.

If when you guys say we're the "same," meaning totally different and nothing like each other at all, I completely agree with you. Just by the fact that they root for a team that's won so much, and we all went our whole lives up until 2004 without seing our team win--how could we not be different? How can you even argue that? I've never once, when walking down the street and having some stranger yell at me out of nowhere to go back to fucking Boston, said, "You know, that guy's just like me. That's exactly what I would do."

An extreme case, but even in general. Being at Yankee Stadium and watching them all cheer because the scoreboard tells them to, and then going to Fenway and starting the "rythmic clap" from the grandstand and having everyone join in, knowing we're all rooting for our team, not clapping for ourselves and how we are truly God's chosen fans... two completely different things. One on one end of the spectrum, one on the other.

You quote me as saying "sucking." Find me that quote. I never dismissed them. But I don't think there's anything wrong or unintelligent in saying they're not a really great team this year. I watch them almost every game. And if they are, we're only three games below a really great team.

Okay, here's the new blog: Jere's Neutrality Boredom Center! Here's the stats and let me tell you how much I respect all sides and good luck to all teams. I might as well kill myself.

Also, yankee fans: please note that everyone is noticing how you only comment here when your team's in first place.

I know you aren't the JoyOfSox blog, but I love reading his stuff because it is really well written and serves as a good place to gain perspective. I think all your vitriol hate towards the Yanks is petty and appeals to the simpletons.

Thanks. But there are many days when Jere's stuff is way better than mine, because he rants and raves and posts silly pictures (like the Jeter 2000 hit chart).

Despite how I may be in person (or during games), my stuff ends up being more newsy. I have puhhh-lenty of MFY hate, believe me. And very little of it is mature on any level.

But the one thing about a blog, though, is that because it's a diary, every day you write what you feel/where your mind is. Dumping on the Sox or Yanks on Day 3 might be 180 degrees from what you write on Day 8 -- because of what happened between on Days 4-7.

(I go back and read what I typed in mid-August 2004, and I laugh. I called it the most frustrating Sox season ever.)

I'm beyond pissed at the way the Sox have played for 2 weeks, but as strange as it is to have happen, 2004 mellowed me out a lot. I'm still angry, frustrated, etc., but it passes faster.

We'll see how I feel when the 18th rolls around!

Oh ...

Briefly off-topic:

... a former Marine and Iraq Vet. ... don't wish pain on no one, it's not right

It was in The Baltimore Orioles Series just before the news of Palmiero using more than just Viagra, to enhance himself('05);

He stated(In what may have been his YES Network On-Air Audition)that Red Sox Fans are the biggest Bandwagon Fans, he's ever seen;

This is from a dude, whose Homoerotic praises of Derek Jeter, perhaps the ONLY name he gets right, on the air these days, whose passion for another postseason of more drivel about DFYankees, a team who may drive FOX' advertising stream, is meant to insence fans of teams such as the Sawx;

Redsock (Redsock is Allan aka JoyofSox if you "simpletons" that I appeal to couldn't figure it out): Thanks for your support. You're exactly right about the diary thing. One thing I've learned from blogging is to just say what you feel. I'm never going to have exactly the same feeing I had last night when I was ranting, so I'm glad I tried to describe it as it happened, rather than sleep on it, and tell everyone the next day "well I was pissed but now I'm fine." Which I am. I'm ready for the next game. But that doesn't mean I didn't feel last night like I never wanted to watch another game for the rest of my life.

The weird thing is, I still feel the need to always hint that I never give up. Partly because it's totally true, but partly so I don't get quoted on some other blog as being "another Red Sox fan throwing in the towel" or "on the ledge" or whatever. Because I am an optimist. And I don't want to be known for one thing I write as opposed to the bulk of it. That's why I got so pissed at Deadspin last year when they did that to me. (I have forgiven Will since and I even comment over there now sometimes, when it's not too boys'-clubbish).

I have puhhh-lenty of MFY hate, believe me. And very little of it is mature on any level.

Ooo goodie, I can quote this.

The biggest difference between Yankee fans and Sawx fans is that you hold onto 2004, we are looking forward to our 27th World Championship and we hardly reference our last championship.

This may be the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life.

Nah, the Yankees don't hold on to their old championships. They don't talk about them, point to them, brag about them, act like they are still happening, count them, enumerate them, list them, wear their number on shirts, throw them in people's faces, or indeed, reference them in any way. In fact, if you didn't ask, you'd never even know they won any championships. One thing about Yankees fans, they don't live in the past. Uh-uh, not them.

Man, if there is anything stupider than Yankee fans lecturing Sox fans how to be real fans, I haven't seen it yet.

Jere, we ARE the same. You're referencing specifics. Of course there are differences when you break it down- one's in Boston. One's in New York. One team is marked by failure. The other by success- etc, etc.

But that's not what I'm referencing. You've said in the past you're convinced that there's no such thing as a good Yankee fan, etc- so we'll just have to agree to disagree. But keep in mind- if there were a bizarro Jere blog, dedicated (naturally) to the Yankees, your site would be tremendous fodder for "what makes a Red Sox fan an idiot." And I'm sure you're cool with that- that's what's great about your blog. The aforementioned "diary" nature of it, and because there are 10 million blogs dedicated to cold hard analysis, and precious few READABLE ones that are entirely fan-based. So if you changed any of these things I'm pointing out, it'd truly, truly suck.

I just happen to disagree.

But the point is, we're all passionate fans, and we're all prone to irrational logic where it suits our favorite team. They do it, we do it, and we're the same. They certainly suck 1,000% more, but essentially we're the same.

I really value your friendship Jere, I love you and your girlfriend and and I want you both safe in the bosom of the Lord and hope you're always well! Take care!!!!

I'd like to say that I never, ever said there's no such thing as a good Yankee fan. I can run you off the list of ones I know personally. I had a party last weekend. Of the 7 people who were there besides me and my girlfriend, four were Yankee fans, one grew up a Yankee fan, one was a Sox fan, and one was an I don't know, but I'd guess Yankee fan. And several other Yankee fans were invited. Much like Matt Pinnfield knows the bands because he hangs with them, I hang around these people. And they know how I feel about their team, and a bunch, but not all, I consider the "true" variety of Yankee fan.

Anyway, yeah, I feel we're totally different, and I'll do a big huge post on it, and we can debate it some more.

Okay, I refuse to get accused of something that's totally the opposite of how I feel and have always felt and have documented proof of.

The "bleacher creatures" (the fans who sit in the right field bleachers at every (-ish) Yankee game) ARE all assholes. People who get uncontrollably loaded, pick on people wearing red unprovoked, and sing homophobic songs EVERY night ARE assholes, in my book.

This is far from saying that there are "no good Yankee fans." I know plenty, and I even usually meet a few every time I go to the Stadium.